Heath Evans on Kirkland

[SteelerSask2]

Football is really about explosiveness. Particularly, explosive power in the hips, core and rear end. Then its above the neck and heart. I'm not saying upper body strength is nothing, but I find bench at the combine to be an interesting metric. I'd be much more interested in dead lift and squat metrics than bench. I would say hand fighting for DL and linebackers requires upper body and punch for OL. But for those of us who coach, you know it is about power from the lower body at least 75%. Tackle- sequence of firing hips/rear and legs shooting up creating leverage. Same with block. Running back. That cut and power to break through an arm tackle. Same deal.

 

[insaniti]

I've definitely said the same thing before, I think the deadlift would be a much more translatable exercise for football strength than the bench press.

 

[slashsteel]

Bench press easier for shorter short armed people.

One event at the combine that is for the most part useless.

 

[SteelerSask2]

I got a kid in a football academy (which is a fancy way of saying he is in a giant camp that practices twice a week, and they work out twice a week). Its all deadlft, squat, plyometrics, and explosive running techniques. And those dudes know what they are doing a hell of a lot more than me.

 

[POP]

Did he make the NFL? What sets NFL stars apart is not how much they lift but how they utilize those lifts on the field. Don't get me wrong being a brute in the weight room helps, but if you have a guy who can only lift half as much but knows how to tranisition his weight training to the game. Thats where success is

Being strong in the weight room means almost nothing as far as proving you can play football. However, being noticeably weak is mostly a bad sign, especially at lineman, LB positions. But I maintain, Evan doing 36 reps, even years since being in football, is freakish. I don't think I could have ever done 36 reps with 135, never mind 225.

 

[POP]

Bench press easier for shorter short armed people.

One event at the combine that is for the most part useless.

It's not useless, it's just not the end-all, be-all factor, and, in many cases, is lightly regarded when it comes to WRs and CBs. But even at WR, if they were especially weak at bench, it could indicate they won't be able to get off the line when jammed. I wouldn't draft any player, other than maybe a kicker, who can't put 225 up at least 10x, and wouldn't take any lineman who can't do 20 reps. And at a position like FB, they better be able to do a bunch or reps, as most of their game involves being powerful.

 

[MTC]

Being strong in the weight room means almost nothing as far as proving you can play football. However, being noticeably weak is mostly a bad sign, especially at lineman, LB positions. But I maintain, Evan doing 36 reps, even years since being in football, is freakish. I don't think I could have ever done 36 reps with 135, never mind 225.

Agree, you need decent strength. If you go into football on a crappy weight training routine. You're gonna get whooped. It's transitioning that strength to on field play. Bench press is critical for lineman cause their job requires pushing. But again how many guys actually utilize their strength?

 

[POP]

Ziggy Hood comes to mind right here. Was a MONSTER in the weight room, could probably work out with Harrison with no problem (speaking of which, Worilds used to be the only one that would work out with Harrison), there were many videos of him lifting a ton of weight, but he couldn't translate that strength onto the field. And it wasn't just with us, he went to Jax and was in the 4-3 which people said suited him better and still couldn't get it down.

He was draft way too high to begin with. He is a back up talent in the NFL, end of story. He is a beast in the weightroom, but, as we all agree, there is more to becoming a good football player than just lifting weights. It's part of it, but no where near the end-all indicator. LT refused to touch weights. And he was an OK Player.